The Co-Pilot is a small, personal carry-on travel bag designed to fit the essentials — the items you want close at hand and easily accessible during your flight or at the airport. It's a natural complement to our larger Aeronaut, Tri-Star, and Western Flyer carry-on travel bags. (Like the Co-Pilot but need something just a little bigger for more stuff or to hold a 13" laptop? See the Pilot.)

The Co-Pilot is made with an exterior of our U.S. made, 1050 denier, high tenacity ballistic nylon — which has twice the abrasion resistance of 1680 denier fabric — and an interior of our ultra-lightweight 200 denier Dyneema®/nylon ripstop fabric, custom produced for us in Japan. A version of the Co-Pilot with an exterior and interior of the Japanese Dyneema®/nylon fabric, which weighs 35% less than the ballistic nylon version, is also available. The front of the Co-Pilot features piping to help it keep its shape and smart looks — no matter how full or empty it is. The Co-Pilot features #8 YKK Aquaguard® water-repellent zippers with metal pulls. Included with the bag are five Cord Zipper Pulls, allowing you to add them to the metal zipper pulls or replace the metal zipper pulls entirely. See here for instructions.

The Co-Pilot has three front pockets and one main, back compartment. The front left compartment has an Ultrasuede®-lined pocket sized to fit your iPhone or cell phone, and the compartment is sized to fit a toiletry kit (such as our 3D Clear Organizer Cube, designed to serve as a 3-1-1 bag) or similar-size item. It has one O-ring to which is affixed a Key Strap — a handy strap that keeps your keys securely tethered to the Co-Pilot. There are four total O-rings in the Co-Pilot. Some customers may find it convenient to clip, via a long Key Strap, a 3D Clear Organizer Cube to the Co-Pilot — at the security checkpoint, you can unzip the front pocket of your Co-Pilot and remove the 3D Clear Organizer Cube but leave it tethered to the Co-Pilot, ensuring that you know exactly where it is.

The middle front pocket of the Co-Pilot is designed to fit a small water bottle or compact folding umbrella. The bottom of this pocket has an eyelet so any condensation, spills, or leaks won't puddle in the bag.

The right side front pocket of the Co-Pilot has four pen pockets and one O-ring and is the same size as the left side front pocket — perfect for things like a digital camera, snacks, or even a very light wind shell or down vest.

The main compartment of the Co-Pilot is wide, open, and ready to accept larger items, like more clothes and your iPad, ereader, or book. Inside, two open-top pouches of equal size aid organization.

The back of the Co-Pilot features a wide, open-top pocket for a magazine or newspaper. The bottom of this pocket zips open so you can slide the Co-Pilot over the handle of rolling luggage.

The Co-Pilot has a comfortable handle padded with PORON® foam, centered above the center of gravity. Shoulder Strap attachment points are on the left and right sides of the Co-Pilot. Our Standard Shoulder Strap is included with the Co-Pilot. You have the option of upgrading to our Absolute Shoulder Strap for an extra $20.

Not just a great travel bag, the Co-Pilot will assist you once you reach your destination — it's the perfect day bag to carry your map or guidebook, water bottle, jacket, and umbrella, with room leftover to collect small souvenirs on your trip.

As reviewed by Macworld: "There are plenty of iPad-specific bags out there; the Co-Pilot isn't one of them. Instead, it's versatile travel/day bag aimed squarely at iPad owners. It's not inexpensive, but it's superbly made, and you're likely to get a lot more use out of it than a bag designed just to carry your iPad." Read the full review.

As reviewed by Practical Hacks: "As a personal carry-on item, the Co-Pilot certainly works. I was a bit afraid that it’d be a bit too purse-like, but once I saw it in the flesh, my concerns disappeared. It’s a good looking, capable little bag, and I’d be comfortable traveling with it anywhere. Bihn seems to achieved the impossible: designing a bag that’s manly enough for most guys, but not to a degree where it’d be objectionable to many women: incredible." Read the full review.

As reviewed by One Bag, One World: "Why the Co-Pilot instead of vertical messenger like the Cafe bags? The horizontal design, being less deep, is easier to get into quickly. The lack of a flap top also speeds entry. The vertical bags are better for carrying lots of printed material (magazines, notebooks, newspapers). The Co-Pilot accommodates 8.5” x 11” with little room to spare." Read the full review.

people who have the Co-Pilot say:

Extreme one-bagging with the Co-pilot
"My 14 year old son and I just returned from traveling from Idaho to Houston to catch two baseball games (Dodgers v Astros). I have been a fan of the one-bag means of travel for some time and usually use a Tri-star for that purpose. Since we were dressing super casually and only spending one night, we chose to "extreme one-bag", my son using his school backpack and me, only the copilot. In the main compartment I packed a t-shirt, socks and change of underwear in a small tristar packing cube. This left room for an iPad and Sennheiser noise cancelling headphones. In the right front pocket was my Jawbone Jambox speaker and a laser pico projector. In the left front pocket were my keys and iPhone. The middle water bottle pocket contained my 3-3-1 bag. A couple of magazines in the back pocket. It was great not to worry about finding overhead bin space." — posted by cshull

Co-Pilot excels under the seat in front of you
"I recently took a work trip to Brazil. I spent plenty of hours on planes (in Economy) and a bunch more in airports. I also spent way too many hours in meetings and presentations given that there was a gorgeous beach 100 m from my hotel. During the course of this trip, I learned that the Co-Pilot excels under the seat in front of you. It's also not too shabby in the airport." — posted by snowbot

Initial Impressions of my Co-Pilot in Black/Steel
"I spent roughly 10 minutes neatly transferring my belongings from bag to bag and it amazed me how each and every item I carried over had a home in my new bag. The Rhodia notebook, the Rhodia pad, the Kindle, and my iPod (in the small pouch) all fit nicely in the two large size pockets in the main compartment. My iPad, in Apple case, fit nicely in the main cavity as well still leaving me an ample amount of space should I need to add files, paper, or other miscellaneous items." — posted by aparrado

Co-pilot - Best travel bag ever?
"Needless to say, the bag was perfect. It looks deceptively small, but it can hold a lot. In fact, more than easily swallowed up a trade paperback, diapers, wipes, snacks, water, pens, a couple of Field Notes books, a magazine, my iPhone, small headphones, a small first aid kit, the ultrasuede cleaning cloth, a hankie, a small flashlight and a small pocketknife." — posted by Rev_Horton